Tag Archives: Tools

Last October, Brian Solis created the definitive list of Twitter Tools, a handy list of Twitter helper applications by key categories. Given Twitter’s explosive growth and crossing the chasm to more mainstream adoption, the palette of Twitter tools has most definitely expanded as Brian notes in his post to more than 1,000 apps. I noticed this a few months ago, when a few of us analytics geeks fooled around with creating a Twitter Monitoring and Analytic Tools Taxonomy.

You may remember that they also created the much replicated and shared Conversation Prism — a map to help communications, service, marketing, and community professionals more effectively navigate the many social media tools. They are asking for feedback on what is missing, suggestions for categories, and other ways to improve the tool.

I would love to see a clickable version. Better yet, I’d like to see a wikispace that included descriptions, links to tutorials, and tips.

I’ve used the Conversation Prism diagram in almost every presentation or training I’ve done since Brian created it (with a credit to the creator and a mini advertisement to read Brian’s blog). The reaction I often get from folks in the room is a feeling of being overwhelmed. So, what I’d also like to see is the 101 version of the Twitterverse perhaps for the next iteration of the WeAreMedia Tool Box.

Thanks, Brian and Jesse, for a terrifically useful map to the Twitterverse.

The summit Women Who Tech brings together talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology who use their tech savvy skills to transform the world and inspire change. We provide a supportive network for the vibrant and thriving community of women in technology professions by giving women an open platform to share their talents, experiences, and insights.

On May 12, 2009 the second annual Women Who Tech TeleSummit (held via phone and web) brought together hundreds of women from across the US and abroad in the non-profit, political and business world for an incredible lineup of thought provoking panels featuring technology change makers such as Joan Blades of MoveOn and Moms Rising, Allison Fine of Personal Democracy Forum, Lynne D Johnson of Fast Company, Charlene Li, Holly Ross of NTEN, Rashmi Sinha of SlideShare, Lisa Stone of BlogHer and more.

I had the great honor of moderating the panel Tools Galore in Online Communications:

From Google Earth to Wiki’s and Twitter this panel will give you the nuts and bolts of the latest tools organizations can utilize to ramp up their next online campaign. Panelists: Natalie Foster, DNC; Rebecca Moore, Google Earth Outreach; Laura Quinn, Idealware. Moderator: Amy Sample Ward, NetSquared

The sessions were short (only 50 minutes!) but packed in a tremendous amount of information. Here’s a rundown of the Tools Galore session. See the slide deck above and notes from the panelists below:

Managing many social media sites can be a bit challenging for the non-profit that has little time and/or resources. Many social media sites, including Facebook, recognize this fact. They also know that social media is increasingly being used for fundraising.

There is an inherent tension between strategy and tactical implementation of using social media to support a campaign’s objectives or nonprofit’s mission, whether the goal is fundraising, marketing, or taking action. Those who are just beginning to incorporate social media into their strategic thinking struggle with: “How do we get to know and understand how a particular tool can help us meet our goals, but not let the tool drive our decisions?”

It’s certainly exciting to see technology being used in ways that amplify and extend the impact of movement organizing. I think it’s easy, however, to misread the technology as the cause of the movement rather than as simply a tool of it.

Fire, for instance, was a society-changing tool. Its revolutionary potential, however — cooking food and thus making it more digestible, nutritious, and lasting — was only realized through its strategic use.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been having discussions with the good folks at Witness.org about how Witness and Ourmedia could work together. Witness has announced an ambitious plan to build a set of publishing tools that would let those in repressive or abusive conditions shine a spotlight on what’s happening in their countries. We already have parts of that publishing infrastructure built, so it makes sense to join forces.

Tonight on PBS’s “Charlie Rose,” Witness founder Peter Gabriel and executive director Gillian Caldwell spoke eloquently about their stirring vision, which is now within reach. I transcribed this exchange:

Dania Gerhardt, co-founder and chief of finance and operations for Amazee.com,
discusses “the world’s first social collaboration platform.” Her company, based in Zurich, Switzerland, launched in September 2007 and the platform went public in May 2008.

Amazee is a platform for social activism and enabling groups and movements to use collaborative tools. I’m excited by what Amazee brings to the table, and I’ll definitely be following Amazee’s progress in the months ahead. The interview conducted during Supernova 2008 in San Francisco, is 7 minutes long: